Terps Take on Wake Forest in Comcast Tuesday

Maryland Athletics

2-17-2014

Wake Forest (14-11, 4-8 ACC)

at Maryland (14-12, 6-7 ACC)

After completing arguably its toughest stretch of the season, Maryland returns to Comcast Center Tuesday night for its final regular season ACC bout with Wake Forest at 7 p.m. on the Raycom Sports Network. Four of the Terrapins’ final five games are at home, where they are 4-1 in ACC play.

• Maryland has defeated Wake Forest in seven consecutive games dating back to 2011, which is tied for the longest stretch in the history of the series. The Terps hold a 69-56 advantage in the all-time series against Wake Forest, including a 38-18 mark at home.

• The Terrapins are three days removed from a heartbreaking loss to No. 8 Duke, as Charles Mitchell’s game-winning bid rimmed out with less than two seconds remaining. Maryland held Duke - the nation’s best 3-point shooting team - to just five 3-pointers on 20.8 percent shooting.

• After picking up three fouls and being held scoreless in the first half against Duke, junior Dez Wells roared back to score 17 points in the second frame. Wells is averaging 9.8 points on 53 percent shooting in the second half this season - compared to just 5.3 points on 43 percent shooting in the first.

• Head coach Mark Turgeon credited freshman center Damonte Dodd for his role in Maryland’s second half comeback against Duke. Dodd played all seven of his minutes in the second half, and did well altering shots inside with his length.

• The Terrapins found success inside against Duke, outscoring the Blue Devils 40-24 in the paint. It is Maryland’s highest point total in the paint in ACC play this season.

Maryland Falls to Duke in HeartbreakerJake Layman scored 18 points, Dez Wells added 17 and Charles Mitchell tallied 12 as Maryland fell to No. 8 Duke in a heartbreaker 69-67 on Saturday night. Wells had all 17 of his points in the second half for Maryland (14-12, 6-7). Parker gave Duke the lead for good when his one-handed dunk over Damonte Dodd made it 68-67 with about 1:15 remaining. Wells missed a jumper over Rodney Hood with about 50 seconds left. Duke milked the shot clock before Amile Jefferson missed a jumper that failed to draw iron, giving the Terrapins the ball. The teams traded timeouts with 18.8 seconds left before Maryland worked the ball inside to Mitchell. He had one hook shot blocked by Parker with about 7 seconds left, and another shot tantalizingly bounced twice on the rim but would not fall through.

Scouting Wake Forest Wake Forest (14-11, 4-8 ACC) has lost five consecutive games since opening conference play with four wins in seven games. The Demon Deacons most recently lost at home to Florida State, 67-60. They are 1-6 on the road, with the lone win coming at Virginia Tech. The Deacons are exceptional at getting to the free throw line, leading the ACC in free throw attempts (656) and ranking second in free throws made (420) depsite shooting just 64 percent (14th in ACC). It presents an interesting matchup for Maryland, who is last in the league with nearly 20 personal fouls per game. Codi Miller-McIntyre leads Wake Forest with 14.2 points per game, while Devin Thomas (the younger brother of Maryland’s Alyssa Thomas) is averaging a team-best 7.8 rebounds.

Second Half Performer Junior Dez Wells continued to display his ability to take over games in the second half, scoring all 17 of his points against Duke in the latter frame. In the two other contests he was held scoreless in the first half this season, he responded with second half outbursts of 17 points and 21 against Notre Dame and Miami, respectively. Take a closer look at Wells’ splits:1st Half2nd HalfAvg. Points 5.3 9.8 FG Made 46 84FG % .434 .528FT % .720 .820

Not So Demon Deacons Maryland has defeated Wake Forest in seven consecutive meetings - tied for the longest stretch in series history since the Terps took seven straight during a span from 2000-02. The Terrapins have been dominant throughout the win streak, winning by an average margin of 16.7 points. The pair of teams met three times in 2013, with Maryland winning by double-digits in every meeting. Included among the victories was a lopsided 86-60 win in Comcast Center on Feb. 2, 2013. Six Maryland players scored in double-figures for the Terrapins for the first time since 2011, led by 13 points from Logan Aronhalt. The inaugual ACC meeting between the teams was on Dec. 5, 1953, when Wake Forest came away with a 71-54 victory in Winston-Salem. Maryland got revenge in the first ACC game at home, defeating the Deamon Deacons, 74-53.